


I'll always come back, love

by Abeebuzzing



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Born outta bad sleeping habits, Lots of it, Multi, Slow Burn, Slow Updates, Swearing, bitch got dragged down the keitor pit, good keitor shit, this started as a klance fic but guess what
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2018-12-23 02:21:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11980059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abeebuzzing/pseuds/Abeebuzzing
Summary: Keith leaves Voltron. Ends up with Lotor. How?LMAOOOO BISH U THINK I KNOW HAHHAHHAAHAAAFrom the 5th chapter onward this work contains spoilers for season 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> We need more Keitor fics, guys.  
> Now, this started as a Klance fic, but as the result of recent events, I've started shipping Keitor and lost all interest in Klance. Like, all of it. So most of this fic remains the same, but I'll just take out the Klance parts, and as I've only written two chapters, there's not a lot of work to be done.  
> Also, I haven't seen s4, so what I write won't probably align with canon. Fuck it, this is my reality.
> 
> *I only own characters and places added by me

Allura chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes darting back and and forth over the celing of her bedroom. There was an uneasy feeling in her stomach, one she just couldn't shake off or ignore. "Something's about to happen!", her mind screamed, without giving her the slightest hint of what it may actually be. Tossing and turning, Allura eventually decided that her efforts to sleep were in vain, and she left the warmth of her bed to walk around. Maybe grab a bite? Train? Anything that could distract her was good enough. She even secrectly wished for the Galra to attack.

Her feet eventually carried her to the bridge, that being the place where she would feel the most comfort. Keith was on guard duty that night. Allura suspected that Keith  
never really slept, or only a few hours at a time. Their relationship had greatly improved after Allura overcame her predjudices and learned to see Keith as more than just half-Galra. Sure, it was a part of him, but it wasn't all of him. Allura still wasn't completely adjusted to the idea of there being Galrans who weren't bad, but she tried her best. Old beliefs die hard?

"What are you doing up so late, Princess?" Keith asked, rising from his seat, ready to spring into action if needed.  
"I couldn't sleep, that's all." Allura reassured him "But coming here always helps calm my mind. It somehow feels disconnected from the rest of the world. Helps me get my thoughts sorted."

"What's keeping you up?" Keith eased back into his chair, eyes falling half-shut.

"It's probably nothing, but- I can't seem to shake this feeling, like something is about to happen. Something big." Before Keith could even open his mouth to reply, Allura had already started pacing the room. "It's absurd, I know, I should probably get some rest, but it just won't let me be!" She threw her hands in the air. "Any unusual activity tonight?" She asked, almost hopeful.

"Nope. But I will alert everyone if something does happen. You should really get some rest. Coran will freak if he knew you were not sleeping. He'd probably make me do something extra nasty." Keith twisted in his chair to look at Allura.

Allura chukled lightly. "I suppose you're right. But do alert me if there's anything even slighty out of the ordinary, alright?"

"Of course I will. Good night, Princess." Keith smiled.

Allura left with a wave, off to her bedroom. Getting a full night's sleep didn't seem so hard anymore.  
______________

Keith was half asleep when Shiro came to take over the shift.

"Hey, wake up." He shook Keith slightly.

"I am awake, Shiro." Keith said, sounding like he was very much asleep.

"Get lost." Shiro laughed kindheartedly "Go sleep."

Keith didn't argue and rose from his seat, yawning. "See you tomorrow." He left, waving, like Allura had a few hours ago. Stumbling towards his room, all he could think about was climbing into bed and sleeping 'til the end of the Universe. That was unlike Keith, who could function perfectly with only a few hours of sleep. Alas, he was too tired to pay it any mind, finally reaching his room and falling into bed without even bothering to take his boots off.

"EVERYBODY TO THE BRIDGE" Shiro's voice rang through the speakers, waking Keith harshly. He was out the door before even checking the clock to see how long he'd slept. It didn't matter, Keith had gotten enough sleep to be fully rested and ready to go.

He was the first to arrive, which was not a suprise. Most people don't sleep fully clothed.

"What's happening? Another Galra attack?" He rushed up to Shiro, searching space for any possibly hostile ships.

Shiro shook his head. "I'll explain when everybody's here."

The next to arrive were Allura and Coran, immediately asking the same questions Keith had and reciving the same answers.

It took the rest of the Paladins a couple of minutes to get there, earning a dissapointed look from both Allura and Coran. Shiro was too busy checking something on the control panel. He had time to be dissapointed later.

"I've recived a SOS signal from a nearby planet. It could be an Earth ship, but it's unlikely. We're too far for Earth ships to reach. I suggest you take the lions and go check it out while I and Coran stay on the orbit." He was using his serious voice.

"Is the planet populated?" Pidge asked.

"Used to be. The inhabitants left because they used up all of the planet's resources. Killed it and found another planet to live on."

"Don't worry! We'll go save whoever's on that planet, they'll think we're heroes and love us. Easy." Lance smiled widely. Everyone else just stared at him silently. "What?"

"Let's just go." Hunk sighed.

______________________

They landed on the planet, a wasteland filled with memories of things once alive. It looked like a graveyard.

"This place creeps me out." Hunk said, voice laced with panic.

"Same here, buddy." Lance agreed. He was nervously surveying the landscape around him. "Let's just find the ship, save whoever's on it, and get the hell out of here."

Pidge looked around for the ship. "I can't se-"  
"There!" Allura interrupted her. "Oh, sorry Pidge."  
Pidge dismissed her with a wave of her hand. "Lets just get this over with. There's a bad vibe to this place."  
No-one could argue with that logic.

The ship was laying on the ground, having clearly crash-landed. There were a couple of knocked-over dead trees and a gash on the planet's surface indicating where the ship had first landed and then slid a little bit before hitting a rock and stopping. The ship was badly damaged, and looked like it was from Earth, after all.

"So it is an Earth ship! How did it get so far?" Lance stepped out of his lion to inspect the spacecraft.

"We can worry about that later. We can drag the ship onto the castle and look at it after we get its passangers to safety." Keith walked over to the door and tried pry it open. "It's stuck!" He panted

"Step back, your teams sharpshooter can handle this!" Lance walked over to the door, confidence oozing out of his pores.  
He didn't manage to pull the door open. "I'll just shoot it then." 

He was about to pull out his bayard before Hunk stopped him "It's too dangerous! Whoever's inside might get hurt."

"Got a better plan, then?" Lance shot back

"Matter of fact, I do. Keith should cut it open with his sword. Seems less risky."

"Alright then. After you, leader." Lance said, but there was none of his usual spark in his tone. He seemed sad, somehow. Deflated. Hunk looked at him with concern. This wasn't just 'I didn't get to fufill my ego so now I'm pissed" and Hunk was worried. He had to pull Lance over to talk about it later.

Keith summoned his bayard and cut open the door, letting it fall to the floor with a dull klunck. He stepped inside with caution, and invited everybody else in with a wave of his hand when he had made sure it was safe.

"Allura, Pidge, go check the back of the ship. Hunk and Lance will take the middle and I'll take the front." The team split up, moving with caution, every one of them on high alert.

____________

"So far nothing." Lance's voice rang through the teams' helmets.

"We found the storage area. There's just a couple of duffel bags here." Pidge said "We're looking through them now."

"I'm moving towards the cocpit. Haven't seen anything or anyone yet." Keith replied. "What's in those bags? It might give us a hint who to look for."

"Mostly clothes and shoes. By the looks of it, they belong to an adult female human. There's some hygenic products, toothbrush, hairbrush, etc... " Pidge said. "Holy shit" She breathed softly

The rest of the team went "Hey!" in unison. Pidge cussing was nothing new, but still.

"What is it?" Keith asked impatiently. If it was something very dangerous, they needed to alert Shiro and Coran immeditely and leave.

"It's weapons... Lots of them." Allura said quietly, shocked. "Knives, swords, guns... you name it."

"What?? Oooohh noo, so now we're rescuing a female human ninja?!" Hunk was audibly paniced now.

"Hunk, calm down. We haven't seen anyone yet. Besides, there's five of us and one of them."

"How do you know there's only one of them?!" 

"Hello? One toothbrush? That kind of speaks for itself."

"And there's only one person here." Keith said after being silent during most of the exchange. "It is a female human, I'd say about 20 years old. She's alive, but passed out. Lance, you take her to the Castle with Red, Coran will know what to do next. The rest of us will drag the ship up. Take the bags to Green or Blue just in case. They probably hold important information about who this woman is. We can't lose them. Meet me at the Lions."

Everyone agreed silently, if you exclude Allura's sudden shriek.

"Allura! What is it? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I was just caught by suprise. There's something else here. I'll go check ot out."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Keith. Don't worry."

"Okay. Pidge, give the bags to Hunk and Lance, and go with Allura. Tell us if you need help." Keith could get used to leading the team like this.

"No need, it's just a cat. It probably got on board back on Earth somehow. We'll meet you at the Lions."

Keith updated Coran and Shiro on their plan, Red and Lance were already on their way to the Castle with the woman, and the rest were figuring out a way to move the ship.

"It's not that big, so carrying it won't be much of a problem. The problem is getting it up, we don't want to damage it." Hunk walked around the ship. "Okay, so here's what we're gonna do..."

____________

Red landed safely in his hangar, Coran and Shiro already waiting for them. Lance carried the woman out, her black churls falling dramatically off her face.

"What are you doing?! You're carrying her completely wrong, not supporting her head at all!" Coran was acting like... well, Coran.

"She's not a baby, Coran. She's at least 20." Lance replied. "Should we get her to the healing pods?"

Coran huffed, and Shiro answered. "Definetly." He took off off her leather jacket, stained with blood Lance nor Keith had noticed beforehand. "There's a stab wound on her arm, we probably got to her last min-"

"Stab wound?" The woman was awake. "Bitch, you mean extra pocket." She said before promptly passing out again. Shiro stared at her, as did Coran and Lance.

"Let's just get her to the healing pods" Lance said weakly

"Yeah" Coran agreed. Poor Shiro was too shocked to say anything.

_____________________

The Earth ship was slowly but surely rising off the ground. They had tried getting the ship to work, even when Hunk said that it was impossible. No harm in trying?

Once the ship was completely off the ground, the lions swiched positions a little bit, being under the ship rather than on its sides, pushing it up. It got easier from then on, and the ship was loaded onto the Castle soon enough.

Allura carried the cat out, stroking its white-brown-black fur, cooing at it softly. Hunk and Pidge carried the bags out of Green.

"Can we look at these later? I'm starving." Pidge asked Keith, giving him her best puply eyes.

Keith looked at the rest of the team. They all looked tired and hungry. "Okay. Go eat, shower and sleep. We'll look at them first thing tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this!!  
> I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the team digs deeper, literally not a single question is answered about the mystery woman. Okay, maybe one. Can't remember. She doesn't care, either way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came a lot sooner than I expected it too. Wow. Enjoy.

"Has she woken up yet?" Keith asked, walking up to Hunk, who was keeping watch on the pods.

"No. She's moved and mumbled a couple a times, but that's it. That's to be expected in such a state. She was this close to death." Hunk gestured with his hands.

"Okay. I'll take it from here, go get some rest." 

"It's not even you shift, Keith." Hunk said, observant as ever. "Seriously, dude, do you even get enough sleep?"

"I'm good, Hunk, go sleep. Seriously." Keith sighed and rubbed his face. He couldn't sleep, and he might as well be productive when he was awake. No point in wandering around. 

"Okay, if you say so. I'll tell Pidge that she doesn't have to wake up."

"How are you going to tell her that without waking her up?" Keith asked, removing his hands from his face.

"She can be awake one moment and asleep the next if she wants. She also checks her phone right after waking up, so she'll see the message that I'll send her, and go back to sleep. Easy" Hunk shrugged. He knew all of his teammates' habits. Lance the most, then Pidge, then Shiro, then Keith. Allura and Coran were quite the class of their own. They were a different species, after all. A bit of a challenge for Hunk.

"You do know us all well, don't you?" Keith smiled the slightest of smiles.

"Ohhh my god, did you just actually SMILE? I've literally only seen you do that once! Twice, max." Hunk was acting just like he was when they went to get the lenses for the teludav. 

Keith sighed. "Just go to sleep."

"Aye aye, captain." And off he was, texting Pidge on the way.

Keith flopped down on the floor, staring at the celing. Nothing much to do other than that. The 'mystery woman' was probably not waking up unless she had magical healing powers (highly unlikely) or the system would mess up and let her out early (very unlikely). So Keith decided to kill time by playing games on his phone and occasionaly taking a nap. He was bad at keeping watch, but at least he set alarms so that he'd never sleep for longer than 15 minutes. The woman would twitch and murmur random words at times, like Lance had during his time in the pods. Nothing that would make Keith pay some more attention, which, in all honesty, was not really neccesary. It was one boring night.

__________________________________

Hours later, the rest of the team made their way into the room, still yawning and otherwise acting like zombies. 

"Hey, thanks for covering my shift, Keith. Really appreaciate it." Pidge half-said, half-yawned. Keith just nodded.

"Alright, team! We've looked over the weapons and they're all from Earth, as are the rest of what are presumably this young woman's belongings." No-one, besides maybe Allura, could understand how, exactly, was Coran always this energetic. Maybe 10,000 years in a pod gave him 10,000 years' worth of energy to waste? Who knew.

"The ship is still being scanned, so there's not much to say besides what we already know. It's from Earth, and pretty baldy damaged." Allura added. She wasn't as awake as Coran, but still far better than most of the people in that room.

"Besides the weapons, there's nothing that could potentially be dangerous. Although, I do not quite understand how these work." Coran picked up one of the high heels. Whoever she was, she definetly knew how to look fabolous (that was, if she could actualy walk in those). "Are they some sort of weapons??" High heels were appeariently not high-end fashion on Altea.

"They're shoes, Coran. People on Earth walk in those. Not every day, tho, and definetly not everyone.I almost broke an ankle trying on my mom's once." Pidge shrugged "They weren't quite as high though."

Coran looked at Pidge in confusion "How do you eve-"

"Moving on!" Keith shouted. "What else is there, Allura?"

"Nothing much. Clothes, shoes, some Earth tech and a whole lot of makeup" Allura replied, taking out some of the bags contents. At least Alteans knew what makeup was. "The ship's scans will show if there's anything hidden in it, unless it's really well hidden, and that shouldn't be possible with Earth's tech. You're simply not advanced enough."

"The results should be in soon enough, but you've got enough time to train." Coran informed them. "What are you waiting for?! Hit the training deck! I'll keep watch."

Seeing as most of the paladins hadn't still quite registered what he had said, Coran had no choice but to simply keep making shooing motions with his hands and not to give up. "Go on, now! We don't have the whole day! Move it! And I don't want to hear any complaints!"

Even Allura seemed to not like the idea of training that early in the morning.

_____________

They were sparring today, and since there was an even number of them, they'd all been seperated into pairs. Hunk with Pidge, Allura with Shiro, and Keith with Lance. Keith did not like this. Sure, they weren't rivals anymore, but you wouldn't exactly call them best buddies, either.

Aaand Keith had lost. Again.

"What's the matter with you, man?" Lance helped him off the floor. "It's like you're in a completely different universe."

"REALITYYYY" yelled Swen, passing by, annoying as usual.

"It's nothing, just the, uh, Earth ship, and erm, the woman and all... Just keeps distracting me." Keith managed to get out. Why, in the name of Obama's socks, did Lance have the need to watch Keith this closely? Like, fuck off dude, and leave me to suffer alone. Is that really so hard?

"I know what you mean." Lance turned away from Keith, watching the rest of the team. "Like, who is she? How'd she get this far?" Lance sighed. "I know it sounds stupid, but I wish that she had left Earth just a couple of weeks ago. Y'know, maybe tell us how it's going back there."

"It's not stupid, Lance." Keith placed a hand on Lance's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He regretted it, but Lance didn't seem to mind. Thank god. "I wish for the same things. I miss Earth." He confessed, withdrawing his hand.

"Same." Lance replied sadly. They stood beside each other, silent, and there was nothing Keith wanted more than for that moment to last forever. The two of them, not bickering, not fighting, not acting like rivals. Just two boys who both missed home. But sadly, nothing lasts forever.

"Now, what are you two doing just standing there?" Coran's voice shook them from their temporary state of peace. "Get back to training!"

"So," Lance turned towards Keith "want to get your ass beat again?" He smiled that bright smile of his, and what's even better, it was genuine. 

"Oh, you wish." Keith scoffed. "No way I'm going to let you win again."

"Let me? Ha! I totally won because I'm amazing, not because you 'let me', Keith!" There was no poison behind Lance's words, just joking around as if he and Keith were old friends. And even if Keith didn't want to let people too close, he wouldn't mind moments like that some time again.

Keith was so going to win this time.

________________

The team was currently getting dressed when Coran burst in, not even bothering to knock.

"Could you knock?!" Hunk was perched on top of the stool, clearly not happy over Coran's sudden appearance.

"Knock? Why?" Coran tilted his head to the side, like a curious child.

"Just do it, Coran. Please." Shiro sighed.

"Alright." He said. "But, the ships scans just came in! Get dressed and we'll look at them!" And with that, gone he was.

"We're not even going to get to eat?" Lance whined "I'm starving!" 

Keith thought he was incredibly annoying. Like, dude? Weren't we just bonding over wanting to know more half an hour ago? 

__________________

"The ship is mostly empty, but there's some hidden compartments. We need to look through them, there's probably something inside." Coran was tapping some buttons on the, bringing the ship's 3D image into view. "The compartments are here, here, and here." He pointed at three different locations on the ship. 

"Is the ship in good enough conditions for us to enter?" Keith asked "It's not going to collapse on us?" 

"The drones have set up supports whereever needed, so it's not going to come apart unless you start tramping around in there like a bunch of wild Alte-" Shiro cut him off before he could start talking about whichever beast it was this time.

"Not all of us should go in. Any volunteers?" He asked, looking around. 

Knowing that noone else was really in the mood for going in there, Keith sacrficed himself, so to speak, and put his hand up.  
As had Lance.

"Can we eat first?" Keith said in a slightly panicy voice. "I haven't eaten since like yesterday." He explained.

Shiro nodded "Sure, I don't think we're really in a hurry with this. We aren't, are we?" He asked Coran.

"No problem, go eat, young Paladins! You'll need it!"

"Why does that sound like we are going to have some extra-tireing mission soon?" Hunk asked sadly.

"No such thing, Hunk! Why would you even think that?" It sounded very much like Coran was lying and and they were going to have an extra-tireing mission sometime soon.

"Let's just eat. I'm literally staaaarviiiing." Pidge said, her stomach growling as if to prove her point.

__________________

"This ship isn't any less creepy the second time around" Lance commented, sureying the empty space around him.

Keith was so not happy with this. Earth ship, so far from Earth? That did not add up. 

"Let's just get this over with. Shiro, where to?" He spoke into his helmet.

Shiro gave them the instructions, leading them down the narrow corridors.

"Okay. I think we're here." Lance crouched down in front of a small handle on the wall. It was so small and well hidden, they wouldn't have found it without the help of the droids. "Are there any traps we should know about, Coran? By the looks of it, this was made by a proffesional."

"The scans show no traps, but your armour would save you from any man-made weapons." Coran was quick to reply

"And if they're not man-made?" 

"We've got no reason to belive they aren't."

"That sounds like we have every reason to belive that they are made by aliens and we're going to die." Keith said, inspecting the handle, right next to Lance.

"You don't trust me, I gather? I'm deeply off-"

"That's enough." Shiro shrugged. "Try to open the door without anything or anyone getting hurt."

"Alright, man." Lance replied. "Guess the only way to do this is to pull the handle?"

Lance drew a deep breath and pulled. Nothing. "The door is stuck!" He shouted, pissed. He tugged at the door times and times again, until it finally gave out, sending Lance flying backwards.

"You okay, dude?" Keith said, looking over.

"Fine. What's in there?" Lance stood up and walked back over.

"Uh, let me see..." Keith dug into the tiny compartment. "Um, some papers, blueprints, maybe?" He gave them to Lance, who inspected them with care.

"Yeah, they're blueprints. Seems like for some mechanical animal. Actually, animals. There's lot's of them here."

"Wait, there's some more." He put them on the floor and went in again. "There's a box, it's pretty heavy, I'll drag it out and we'll see what it is." He grunted as he dragged the heavy box out.

"Aaand it's filled with.... Metalworking tools?" Lance was confused. "Our mystery woman is a blacksmith?"

"Would explain the scars on her arms. Probably from fire or hot objects." Shiro offered. "Get those things out here and then go check out the other two."

________________

The second one was similar to the first, including some more blueprints and tools.

The third one, oh, that was interesting. It was much harder to locate than the others, and much harder to get into.

"What the heck, man" Lance groaned, seeing that when they had finally broken through the door, a second one was waiting for them.

"There's a code on this one. Whatever's in here, it must be way more important than the tools or blueprints." Keith said, looking at the lock.

"Speaking of the blueprints, they make no sense." Pidge said. "Words are written using the Latin albhabet, but they're not in English. But the numbers... They make even less sense. I think they're coded somehow, too."  
The mystery woman was becoming a bigger mystery by the second.

"Any way you can decode them?" Keith asked, rubbing his hands on his face. Or at least, trying to. He still had his helmet on.

"I can try, but it would take less time for us to wait for her to wake up." 

"Um, how about we deal with the problem right in front of us?" Lance pointed at the lock. "It's a password lock, with a hint."

"What's the hint, then?"

"Beyoncé's birthday."

"Pidge?" Keith tried.

"Are you assuming I know Bey-"

"The lock is open." Lance said, looking at Keith as of he were the biggest idiot in the world. "Did you think I didn't know Queen Bey's birthday? What kind of a person you think I am, Keith?" He seemed almost offended.

"The lock is- whatever. Let's just take whatever's in there and go." The poor boy was tired.

"And, for the record," Lance said, reaching into the compartment, "Pidge does know Beyoncé's birthday. She even skipped an entire day of school for it once."

"It was a damn good reason."

"Good to know. What's in there, Lance?"

"It's a.... violin?" Lance was puzzled. "She's a blacksmith and violinst?" 

"And possibly a crazy ninja" Hunk said, clearly having his priorities straight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this chapter! Come visit me on Tumblr at myfandomshits! See ya


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ms. Mystery finally ditches her Sleeping Beauty cosplay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me long enough, I know. I wrote another Keitor fic in that time! Don't @ me
> 
>  
> 
> Also this chapter is set in the beginning of season 4, and the next one will most likely be in the end of season 4.

''So, how's Miss Mystery doing?'' Lance asked, strolling in with his usual swagger. And yeah, that's what they called the poor gal now.

 

''Better. I think we can except her to be awake by dinner. Midnight, by the latest.'' Pidge was sitting on the floor in front of the healing pod, not even raising her eyes from whatever it was she was doing on her computer.

 

Ms. Mystery's injuries had been worse than anticipated, including her body being weakend by the lack of food and water. A couple of days had passed since Lance and Keith had retrieved the rest of her belongings from the ship, and Pidge was truly annoyed by the fact that she was still not able to crack the code.

 

''Anybody want some cookies?'' Hunk yelled from the doorway. ''Or, at least, something similar to cookies.'' He held up a tray of nearly-realistic looking cookies. They did smell like the real stuff, though.

 

''Always, Hunk.'' Lance had crossed the room in just a few seconds, picking up a warm treat from the still-hot tray. He turned to Pidge. "You want one?"  She just shook her head. 

 

"I'm running her DNA through our and the Blade's database. She's half Galra, tough."

 

Lance choked on his cookie. "Half Galra? At least we know the Galra go on vacays there pretty often..."

 

"Well, whoever she is, it'll take at least a few hours for the scan to be complete. I may have hacked the Garrison's databases before we left too." Not a hint of guilt, the classical Pidge way.

 

"Where's the other half-Galran we know, though?" Hunk asked. "Haven't seen him in a while. He seemed pretty interested in Ms. Mystery."

 

"He's probably on some Blade mission.  _Again."_   Lance rolled his eyes.

 

"If the two of you want to discuss Keith's whereabouts, do it somewhere else. I'm gonna try to crack the code.  _Again."_ Pidge said from her seat on the floor, making shooing movements with her hands. 

 

"What about the DNA scan? I thought you were doing that."

 

"These programs can run at the same time, Lance. The computer will alert Pidge if it finds an match, and then she will alert us,  _right?"_ Hunk stressed the last word with care, making sure Pidge didn't forget telling them, like she had once before. "C'mon Lance, let's find Shiro, Coran and Allura."

 

And with that, they left Pidge alone with her computers, databases and mystery women. She was more than happy with that arrangement.

 

 

\----------later that evening------------

 

Keith dragged himself to the infirmary, still in his Blade uniform. "Any progress?" He asked, flopping down on the floor next to Pidge.

 

"Well hello to you too." Pidge looked at him. "You look like shit."

 

"I know, Pidge. Now tell me something that's not blatantly obvious and something I already know." Pidge snorted at that.

 

"Well, first of all, she's half Galra." Keith's face revealed nothing. "And second.... Do you have any siblings, Keith?"

 

"No?" Keith said, surprised by the sudden change of topic. "Why? What does that have to do with anything?"

 

"She shares 50% or her DNA with one of us on this ship." Her words were quiet, careful. "And that someone... It's you, Keith. She's your sister."

 

Keith rose quietly, and walked over to the healing pod. "Are you sure?" He asked, his voice low, maybe even slightly scared.

 

"Yeah, it's the only option that makes sense. Only parents and full siblings share 50% of their DNA with their children-slash-siblings. She's not old enough to be your mom, plus your mom was full Galra..."

 

Keith was staring at the woman's face, as if trying to find similarities between him and her. Pidge had done that too, when she'd first found out. And after looking for a bit, she found them. The same nose, the same eyebrows. They probably had the same eye color, too.

 

"Are you okay?" She asked, standing up and walking up behind Keith, who jumped as if he'd forgotten she was there. 

 

"I'm.... I don't know, Pidge. I don't know." He rubbed his face and sighed, turning to face her. "Just don't..... Just don't tell the others yet, okay? I'll tell them if it's necessary, or when I'm ready. Please?"

 

"Of course. It's not my tea to spill." She crinkled her nose. "But if you don't leave to take a shower right now, I'll physically wrestle you under the water." Keith laughed at that. He'd been doing it more often, but then he'd joined the Blade... So, a victory. A small one, but a victory nonetheless. 

 

"Thanks, Pidge." He left with a small wave. 

 

Pidge was not going to lie to herself; she was jealous. If she had the chance of getting Matt back, just like that... She'd take it, for sure.  _He didn't even know he had a sister. He didn't grow up with her or anything. It's totally different._ She told herself. She sighed and sat down in front of her computer, which she'd nicknamed Alan a long time ago, resuming her game of Sims. It was a miracle the little assholes hadn't burned down the house.

 

\------------near midnight, same day------

 

Keith had told Pidge to go get some sleep  ~~(~~ ~~and to stop playing that stupid game)~~ , watching over the woman herself, should she finally wake up. After watching her with great attention for a while, he started seeing the similarities between them. He wasn't sure if that was a enirely good thing.  _I don't even know what I'll tell the others... Or her, for that matter._ He snorted. ' _Hi, you're in a castle/spaceship with aliens and robotic lions! Also, you're half-alien and my sister, too!'_ Seemed like a weird way to start a conversation. 

 

The pod started hissing and slowly opened letting out a ton of smoke. Keith was there in a heartbeat, catching her in his arms, gently laying her down on a mattress Hunk had dragged in there earlier.

 

That earned Keith a punch in the face.  _Well, there goes my amazing introduction plan,_ he thought. The punch had been weak, and randomly thrown. Even if she was trained, she wasn't a threat to anyone just yet.

 

"You just had to do that, didn't you?" He asked, still holding his nose. Yes, the punch had been weak, but strong enough to hurt a bit. 

 

"You just had to carry me, didn't you?" She shot back.

 

"Would yo-" He stopped himself there. "Whatever."

 

She looked at him for a second, head tilted to the side, looking like a curious little child. "First, where am I? Second, who are you?" She finally said. She had a pleasant, dark voice. 

 

"Don't you wanna know  _why_ you're here?" Keith asked back.

 

"Oh, I know  _why_ I am here. I needed to leave my last 'permanent' location, if so to say, and that piece of junk didn't get me where needed. Now I'm here."

 

"Sounds good enough. How you feelin'?"

 

"I asked first." She gave him an expectant look.

 

"You're in the Castle of the Lions." Keith said, waiting a bit to watch her reaction and see if he needed to explain further. Her look just told him to keep going.  _Guess she's been in space for a while._ "And I'm Keith Kogane, one of  Votron's paladins. "

 

"Impressive." She laid down on her stomach, her expression that of a teenage girl at a sleepover party, about to hear some juicy gossip, her hands supporting her head, forming a rest under her chin. "Tell me more." She smiled, reminding Keith a cat playing with its prey. 

 

_Well, this is going to be interesting._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this chapter, also make sure to check out my Keitor oneshot, My Love, My Darling!  
> I'll get the next chapter up as soon as possible,
> 
> All the love, byeeeeeeeeee


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's bonding and backstory time hell yeaaa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's still set in the beginning of s4

"Not before you tell me something about yourself." Keith said, knowing very well this was him signing the contract binding him to this little game. "One thing about me in exchange for one thing about you. No lies."

 

"Fine." Her smile spread even wider. "I'm going to enjoy this, kid."

 

"Thing about me: call me that again and I'll kill you." Keith said, completely emotionless. She just laughed out loud.  _She'll wake the others up like this._ Keith thought. He needed more alone time with her.  _I'll need to tell her before the others get here._

 

She hummed, thinking... "Thing about me... You can call me Piter." She had sat up and leaned back, waiting for Keith to reply with his statement.

 

"One more. I told you two things." She looked taken aback for a fraction of a second, before her cunning, sly smile was back on her face.

 

"I'm half Galra." She turned around and dragged the mattress under her. She seemed way more chill about it than Keith would ever hope to be.  _Well, that's one thing less._

 

"Same." She raised her eyebrows, giving Keith the  _boy stop lying_ look.

 

"Prove it." Was all Piter said.

 

"And how would I do that? Growl out loud?" She gave him another look.  _So, she's got more expressions than that smug smile._

 

"DNA sample?" Piter replied, shrugging, as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe. "You've clearly got the tech for that."

 

_This is my chance. Now or never, Keith. Now or never._

 

"Sounds fun. You owe me one active fact now." No emotions.

 

"Active fact? What even is that, kid?" She rolled her eyes. "Pretty sure you just made that up."

 

"Isn't everything made up?"

 

"That's besides the point, Keithy."

 

"I feel like I'll have a whole list of names I won't let you, or anyone, call be by breakfast." 

 

"Call me some, we'd be even." She suggested, standing up, looking around the room. 

 

"Sister." Keith said.

 

"So you know, too." She turned towards Keith again, hands crossed on her chest.

 

"Yeah." Keith nodded. "I know, too."

 

"You told anyone else? I've told one person."

 

"Pidge." 

 

"Who?" She said, saying the 'h' longer, making it more of a breath of wind escaping her throat. As Keith would find it, she did it a lot when wanting to stress a singular word. Drag out the first letter, make the following short and sharp.

 

"The Green Paladin?" Keith sighed. He rubbed his temples.  _How the hell did she even know that we were siblings?_

 

"Ah." She nodded, staring off into space. "Mhm."

 

"How long have you known?" Keith asked, not even knowing if he wanted to hear the answer.

 

"I found out around when Voltron first started attacking Garla battle cruisers. Zarkon's bitch got hold of your DNA somehow. She compared it to mine, given as I'm half human." Her face darkened, hands clenching and unclenching at her sides. "If my life didn't suck ass until then, it definitely did after that. She publicly declared me a traitor, and ordered me to be killed. Before she told me all that, she told me I was your sister."

 

"How'd you survive? With Haggar declaring you a traitor and wanting you dead, I mean."

 

"The Prince of Bastrads." Piter smiled a bittersweet smile. "Lotor's the reason I'm alive and kicking today. I was his best spy, which was easy with a little bit of makeup and everybody thinking I am dead."

 

"You faked your own death?" 

 

"How very emo and Sherlock Holmes-y, I know. I got her to give me a chance of 'redeeming'  myself.  _Dump me on an abandoned planet,_ I said,  _if I come back alive, I'm loyal to the Empire. If I die, I died a traitor._ " She shook her head. "It was a long shot, but it was worth it. Maybe she just wanted to see me suffer, but hey, I'm alive and she thinks I'm dead."

 

"So everybody thinks you're dead?" Keith asked.  _If her cover relies on being dead, why is she telling me all this? And Lotor saved her? Unbelievable much?_ "And nobody ever suspected you might be his spy? Nobody even knew he had a spy?"

 

"Oh, people know. Word gets around, you know. I'm pretty much a fairy tale for scaring naughty kids at this point.  _If you don't eat your veggies, the Walker of Shadows will come get you!"_

 

"That's what they call you?  _The Walker of Shadows?_ Pfft. Get a less edgy name."

 

"Get a less edgy haircut." Piter shot back. "The rest of my names are even worse. Piter is the least edgy."

 

"What are the rest?"  _I need to know more if I want to trust you, Lotor's spy._

 

"Go to the nearest space mall, mention finding things in different places than where you left them, and you'll find out. Along with a million legends of me, from me being a demon to me being government propaganda made up to keep the people scared."

 

"Are you, then? A demon or government propaganda?" She laughed at that, slowly but surely escaping the grip of painful memories. 

 

"I can see what you're doing, kid. I'm not going to sell you out to Lotor. And selling you out the Empire would end up with me in a grave." After seeing that Keith didn't think she'd notice, she just sighed and smiled. "You think I'm just a spy by title? I'm not stupid, boy, nor am I a bad spy."

 

"If you are who you claim to be, then why haven't I heard of you before? And why should I trust you?" No point in hiding his intentions anymore, she'd know anyway. That was,  _if_ she truly was who she'd claimed to be.

 

"There's a lot of things you don't know. It's not because the two Alteans here have been holding information from you and the rest of your space  _One Direction,_ but because all your boy band's been doing is saving a world you don't know anything about. It's made up of millions of different cultures, but they all have some things in common. Rumors and legends of me, for example. Get out there. Spend a few hours hanging around in a space mall and you'll learn more than anyone could ever teach you. Get to know the world you're saving."

 

Keith had been listening to Piter's little one-person-talk-show in silence. "But, once again, why should I trust you?"

 

"It's simple." She shrugged. "Don't. You just met me. All you know is that we're related, and that, in itself, doesn't mean shit. But," she stopped for a dramatic pause, "you might want to start trusting me once you know me better. I'm quite the useful ally, officially dead or not." She winked.

 

Keith considered that for a second. "I think you should meet the others now."

 

She smiled. "It'd be my pleasure."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Her names are all edgy and emo, just like her


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piter literally just becomes scarier by the second
> 
> *from this chapter onward, there's spoilers for season 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still beginning of s4
> 
> Also this chapter is like 2,300 words bc I wanted to be done with the beginning of s4 and move on to the end of it (I'll skip the things in between rather than just rewriting the season)

"One more thing, though." Piter stops, blocking Keith's exit. "I'd appreciate you not telling the rest of your little gang what you heard here today. It'd be absolutely devastating if I had to kill you all." She smiled that dangerous smile of hers again. And Keith was slightly terrified of her in that moment. 

 

"Sure thing. They don't know we're siblings, either, and I'd prefer you not telling them, either." He said, pressing past Piter to wake the rest of 'his little gang'. She turned, walking after him, looking very relaxed and not worried at all. Hands in her pockets, hair pushed over her shoulder, seeming like a textbook example of chill. 

 

* * *

 

They had all gathered in the lounge, the Paladins and Coran sitting on one side of the circle of seats, Piter and Keith on the other. Piter didn't seem to mind, one leg thrown over the other, silently humming a song to herself, eyes closed.

 

"So, I see that you've healed well?" Allura said, carefully, not quite knowing what to make of this woman now sitting before her.

 

Piter opened her eyes, and let them slide over the Paladins and Coran. "Oh, yes. I thank you for your generosity. I would have died out the if it weren't for you." Keith could see how she'd gotten Haggar to give her a shot at survival. Her tone, her smile, her body language- it had all changed. A perfect diplomat.  _A perfect spy,_ Keith thought to himself. "I'm Piter," she introduced herself. 

 

"I'm Lance, but you can call me the man of your dreams." He smiled an finger-gunned her. Piter blushed and smiled shyly. She truly was one hell of an actress.

 

"Please do ignore him," Pidge said, shooting Lance a look, "I'm Pidge, nice to meet you."

 

The rest introduced themselves to her, while she was all polite smiles and 'nice to meet you-s'.

 

"Now that we all know each other, I'm sure you'd like to take a shower?" Keith said, turning to Piter.  _I need to talk to you. Now._ He thought, hoping she'd get the message. "I'll show you to your room."

 

"I would, yes." She stood and brushed invisible dust off her pants. "We'll talk more tomorrow morning? That is, if I don't sleep in." She smiled.

 

"You have every right to sleep in, Piter. Good night." Allura said, the rest echoing her last words. Hunk gave her a small wave. Keith and Piter said their good night's and left the room.

 

As soon as they were out of earshot, Keith hissed at her. "What the hell? You were a completely different person in there!"

 

"I wasn't Lotor's best spy for nothing, kid." She shrugged. "Gotta show the people what they wanna see."

 

"That's straight up lying! How do you expect any of us to even start to trust you like that?" Keith did not like the fact that she didn't seem to understand what she'd done wrong.

 

"Oh, they will. They like me already. You're the challenge here. And it's not even I'm planning on staying here." Her tone was cold.

 

"And where will you go?" Keith crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. He was trusting Piter less and less, his sister or not."

 

"To whoever won't kill me and pays the most. Simple."

 

"So if we said we'd pay you and promised not to harm you, you'd stay?"

 

"If you were the one offering the most. I'll probably hunt down Lotor, though. And no way you can pay me more than he did. I was grossly spoiled."

 

"So that's all that matters to you? Money?" Keith was scowling. 

 

"And my own life." She smiled. "Not all of us are saints, kid. Nor are all of us worth saving. Get used to it."

 

"I'll show you to your room." And that was the end of it. When they arrived at her room, she gave him a mock bow and closed the door in his face, not even giving Keith as much as a simple goodbye. 

 

Keith was starting to worry if the side she showed him was the true her. The arrogant, egoistic side of her. He did sure hope he was wrong, or they'd all be dead sooner or later.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, when Keith and Hunk were giving Piter a tour of the Castle (they'd all agreed to try and keep Lance away from her), and they were looking around the bridge, Kolivan called. His attention went to Piter as soon as he saw her,

 

"Weaver." He bowed his head.

 

"Kolivan." Piter replied, her posture shifting. More formal, but not quite the cold manipulator Keith had seen the night before.

 

"It is you." Kolivan spoke to Piter, or Weaver, with more respect than Keith had ever had the luck to experience before.

 

"Who else would it be?" She smiled, knowing damn well what position she held in the exchange.

 

"We all thought you to be dead. The greatest mechanic this world has ever seen, dead on an abandoned planet."

 

"I thought I'd die for a second there too. Clearly enough, I didn't." She gestured at herself. "And deemed it better to go undercover." 

 

"No point in letting the Empire know you're alive." Kolivan nodded. "I'd like to talk to to you face-to-face sometime. The Blade could use someone like you."

 

"I'll think about it." She promised. "It's time I take my revenge on the Empire." And there was that smile again. "One way or another."

 

"It'd be my honor." He bowed his head once again. "But, I'd like to talk to Shiro and princess Allura now." He said, turning his attention to Keith and Hunk. 

 

"I'll go get them." Hunk offered. He didn't like Kolivan much. Most of the team didn't, for that matter, and they weren't exactly fond of the rest of the Blade either. Or Galrans in general. Even the good ones.

 

"And, Keith," Kolivan said when Hunk had left, "we will need you for a mission soon. You should come to the HQ soon. And bring Weaver with you."

 

"I prefer Piter these days." Piter said. "Going by what I was called before I 'died' would make it easier for the Empire to get me."

 

"I see." Kolivan said. "Will you come with Keith to our HQ when I call him? It'd be the soonest we could meet."

 

"It'd be my pleasure." She was smiling, but it wasn't the cold smile Keith didn't trust. It was a smile of a powerful alley, someone Keith should trust. 

 

* * *

 

They were at the Blade's HQ. Accipiter- that's what she's said her full name to be a few days ago, during another one of Keith's nightly confrontations- had followed Kolivan to his office, probably to discuss whatever important matter they had to discuss. Keith was at a mission briefing.

 

Keith had given thought to his sister's many 'personalities' a day ago. And he may have just gotten a step closer to figuring her out.

 

Accipiter- that was the cold manipulator only Keith had seen so far, Lotor's best spy, who was _very_ dangerous

Piter was the friendly young woman Coran, Shiro and the rest of the Paladins saw, who blushed at Lance's stupid pick up lines

Weaver, even if she didn't use that name anymore, was who Kolivan saw, a powerful ally, enemy to the Empire and a living legend

 

Keith could only hope there weren't more faces and names to her. The worst part was how aware she was of all of her 'faces', how consciously she used and changed them. It was like she had a million masks and simply had to choose which one to use in a certain situation. It made it look like Accipiter was the true version of her, but Keith wasn't quite sure.

 

 

Meanwhile, 'Weaver' was having the time of her life. Kolivan had asked her to join the Blade, and she was more than happy to say yes. She'd been nicknamed Weaver because of her amazing metalworking skills. People had described it as her weaving whatever metal she was working with, which is where the nickname had come from. She quite liked it, and would probably pick it up again once they had overthrown the Empire. Which would be possible with her help.

 

"We'll try to provide whatever tools or supplies necessary for your work. You'll have your own workshop here, unless you'd prefer it somewhere else." Kolivan said, and she was enjoying the hell out of this. Kolivan giving her whatever she wanted, that easily? Yes, thank you.

 

"I can get most of what I need myself. I have connections, I can get stuff that I'm not legally allowed. But this whole operation here is not legally allowed, so who cares?" She smiled the smile Kolivan knew as Weaver's.  _Oh, I have you wrapped around my little finger, baby._

 

* * *

 

 

Keith was allowed to say goodbye to Piter- _Is that what I should call her? I think I'll call her that_ \- who was now an official member of the Blade of Marmora before going on his mission. She'd stay here until he'd return and then they'd go back to the Castle together.

 

"Hey." He said in greeting to Piter, who was wearing a Blade outfit. "I'm going on a mission, be back in a couple of days, max. You fine here?"

 

"Yeah." She seemed slightly puzzled as to why he'd ask her that, but her Accipiter mask was up soon enough. "Going to kick some bad guy ass?"

 

It was Keith's turn to say 'yeah' now. "The outfit looks way better on you than it does on anybody else, by the way." It wasn't a lie. Keith just wanted to get to know his sister, even if the 'true' her was a stone-hearted bitch.

 

"I know." She smiled.

 

"Okay, uh... By then, I guess. See you." Keith turned to leave, or he would have, hadn't Piter grabbed his arm and stopped him.

 

"Don't get killed out there, okay? I know the Blade missions aren't exactly just laser tag." This face was new to Keith, and he had to admit, he liked it. He had no idea what to call her.

 

"I'll try not to." And then he did something he'd never thought he'd do: he hugged Piter. And in a heartbeat, she hugged him back.

 

"Go kick some ass out there, okay?" This smile was also new. Warmer and more sincere than any other Keith had seen so far. Also sassier. She seemed younger, somehow. 

 

"Sounds good." Was all he said. 

 

When he was seated on the craft moving towards their target, he found a little piece of paper in his pocket that he didn't remember putting there. Making sure nobody else saw what he was doing, he carefully unfolded the little note, reading what was written on it.

 

 _Reyna Kogane,_ it read in pretty bad handwriting that Keith hadn't seen before. It was simple enough to know who'd put it in his pocket, though. After a simple search, Keith had the extra knowledge that 'accipiter' was Latin for hawk, so that definitely wasn't her real name. Reyna, on the other hand...

 

And Keith knew what to call her from now on, who was the person behind all the masks. All he hoped for was that the sassy, caring, big sister of anyone's dreams was the true Reyna. At least he had grounds to trust her now.

 

* * *

 

 

"Just cut him some slack, alright?!" Reyna snapped at the rest of the team when they'd finally returned. She'd suddenly given up being 'Piter' around them. The rest of them were just as shocked as Keith, even when he'd seen some more of Reyna the night before, when she pretty much told him it was either sleeping for a few hours or being grounded for a week.

 

"You're my little bro," she'd said, "it's, like, my holy duty to take care of you every now and then."

 

"He just risked his life, while you assholes were having fun over here." Piter didn't cuss. Reyna, clearly enough, did.

 

"Sis," Keith said silently, so that no-one else could hear him, "it's okay."

 

Reyna had gone still.  _He's never called me that before._ Out of all her names, she liked it the most. "It's not." She said, just as quietly. "Do what you want, but if I were you, I wouldn't let them treat me like that." And there she was, the Reyna Keith liked the most. His big sister. "I'm leaving Voltron." She declared, loud enough for the entire room to hear.

 

"You're not even a part of Voltron." Shiro pointed out.

 

"Well,  _thank God!_ " Was all she said, turned, flipping her hair over her shoulder, and walked, sassy as ever. But she had to have her grand exit, so of course, she had to flip them all of before that. Keith just sighed.

 

__

* * *

 

 

 

"Took you long enough." Reyna said, sitting in the cockpit of her ship as Keith climbed in.

 

"Had to take a shower." He shrugged. "I told them we're siblings. Hope you don't mind."

 

"Oh, no way. I hated who I was to them, anyway. The more shocked they are, the better." She stared the ship. "Got everything you need?"

 

"Yeah." Keith nodded. "What's up with your 'faces', though? Wouldn't it be easier to just be Reyna?"

 

"It used to be. Reyna's my birth name, what I was called by before I picked up Weaver. Weaver brought along the second face, the first being the true one." She sighed, steering the ship out of it's hangar. "Then Accipiter came along, after I 'died'. I quite like her. She's one hell of a bitch." Reyna grinned. "I mostly have my faces for safety reasons. But sometimes... It feels to be good to be someone else. Forget the problems of one face and just wear another."

 

"I'm glad I know the first face, then." Keith smiled. As did Reyna, as she lead them out into open space, towards the Blade's HQ. "How many faces do you have, then?"

 

"Millions. Everybody has their 'faces', though. Everyone we meet, from the person you bumped into on the street, to those closest to you, knows a slightly different version of you. I just use my faces consciously. It's a good skill to have." 

 

Keith simply nodded and hummed in response.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally googled 'cheesy pick up lines' for that scene lmao


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's reunion time babez

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is set after the end of the last ep of s4 btw

Reyna was shaking. Firstly, her little brother had gone full kamikaze, and secondly, Lotor had saved Keith's (and all of their) asses. He was also coming back. As was Keith, thank god. It had never been harder to put on her Accipiter face. She had disappeared behind a corner to gather herself, even allowing a few tears to spill. Now, she was walking back to the hangars were everybody else was, wearing the face of a cold-hearted, indifferent bitch.  _Deep breaths, Reyna, deep breaths._

 

Keith's ship had just landed, so that's where she headed. Voltron knew they were siblings, but unless they'd told somebody else, that was it.  _I kind of wish they'd be stupid enough to do that._ She snorted.  _It'd be so fucking fun to see that blow up in their faces._ But it was a well know fact they were close, related or not. So it made sense for her to go check him out.  _I'm gonna ground your ass, Keith._

 

And that was exactly what she told him.

 

"What, no 'oh my god I'm so glad you're okay's?" Keith had picket up her habits, the little copycat.

 

"They'll come later, when I've screamed myself hoarse at you. And Lotor. The bastard never called." She gave him a side hug and ruffled his already messy hair. They walked over to where everybody else was waiting for Lotor to show up. If Reyna would be stupid, she'd tell them to leave, find something useful to do, and come back in a little while. No way in hell Lotor wasn't going to be fashionably late.  In a second, Voltron was all over Keith. After a moment, Reyna found herself standing next to Pidge.

 

"I see you haven't told anybody yet." Reyna said, not even needing to clarify what she was talking about.

 

"No. But should we need to..." Reyna simply snorted at Pidge's weak attempt at threatening her.

 

"Then you'd be the worst tacticians I've ever had the misfortune to meet. Reveal we're siblings, reveal Keith's half Galra. Everybody knows I am, and it doesn't take too many brains to put two and two together." She smiled Accipiter's smile. "Wonder how your little coalition would react if they knew Voltron had a half Galra member... In all honesty, it's more my weapon that it is yours." And with that, she walked away, truly pleased with herself.

 

* * *

 

Reyna had been right again. It took Lotor long enough to show up, and when he did, he was smiling. He knew too damn well they'd all waited for him. Reyna had her Blade mask up, just in case. Lotor was her closest friend and she hadn't seen him in ages. She wouldn't run up to him screaming and waving her arms like a teenager, but she'd at least smile... No point in that risk. She'd hug him later.

 

And there he was. Walking off his ship, head held high. He'd left his helmet in the ship, either showing his cockiness or attempting to get on good terms with the coalition, Reyna didn't know. She only hoped that if things were to end in a fight, she'd have enough time to get her phone and film Lotor kicking all of their asses. Or film Lotor getting his ass kicked. Either one was fine, really.

 

Allura stepped up, greeting Lotor first.  _Always being the bigger person, isn't she?_ Reyna shook her head. If there was anything Reyna had learned about princes and princesses as a spy, it was thatthere was  _no way_ Lotor and Allura wouldn't end up in a bitch fight sooner or later.  It was going okay so far, though.

 

Formalities were exchanged, but it wasn't like they were going to change the tide on the War tonight. So, when everybody had introduced themselves, Reyna stepped up and offered to show Lotor to hsi room, as she'd convinced Kolivan to let her do earlier. She walked up to Lotor, and didn't bow. And from the way Lotor's smile had changed the littlest bit, Reyna could tell he'd recognized her, even with the full Blade outfit and mask. 

 

The thing was, Reyna hadn't bowed to Lotor once. She'd bow and be lower than the ground people walked on when she needed information from whoever she needed it from, but never Lotor. And someone without such personal ties to Lotor wouldn't even think about it. 

 

"It'd be my pleasure. My lords and ladies." He bowed to everyone before following Reyna out of the room.

 

Keith had been watching the conversation from his spot by the wall. It was no surprise to him that Reyna would do something like that, he knew she shared quite a bit of her past with Lotor. He simply hoped no-one would make a big deal out of it. He sighed, ran his hand trough his hair and left for his room. If Reyna wanted to come speak to him, she'd just show up behind his door at some point.

 

* * *

 

 

Neither of them had dropped their masks by the time they reached Lotor's room. Reyna let him in before her, holding the door open.

 

"Wait here." Was all she said before turning on her heel and walking down the corridor towards the hangars once again. She had no doubt Lotor would wait.

 

She got to her ship, grabbed her bags and speed-walked back to Lotor. 

 

When she got there, Lotor was looking around his room. "There's really nothing to look at here." She said, putting her bags down on the floor and removed her Blade mask. 

 

"I'm afraid that's true. I used to have prison cells better than this." He turned, grinning ear to ear. "I missed you, Rey."

 

Reyna ran to his arms, hugging the hell out of him. "I missed you too, man." She laughed as Lotor picked her up and spun her around. "I have something that belongs to you, actually." She patted his arm, giving him the signal to put her down.

 

"You kept it?" Lotor asked, softly.

 

"No shit I kept it. Voltron probably thinks I'm like a master violinist or something. And a ninja. I still have the bag of weapons you gave me." She took the violin case out of her bag with utmost care, and handed it to Lotor.

 

"And I still have my dream of teaching you how to fight." Lotor took the violin out of it's case, sitting down on his bed to check it's condition. "What are the other bags for?"

 

 

"Clothes and makeup, mostly." She said. "But now... We're both gonna go take a shower, and then... We're going shopping, babe." She grinned like a maniac.

 

"Really?" Lotor was excited for a moment, before he was pulled back into harsh reality. "We're on a ship full of people who already don't trust me, and you wanna leave in the middle of the night? And there's also the little problem of there being a bounty on my head and you being thought to be dead."

 

"You really think I haven't already solved all of those problems?" She rolled her eyes. "Seriously, I have made a habit out of doing the impossible and you still don't trust me? First problem: I talked to Allura and Kolivan, sold them some horseshit about getting you to trust me and blah blah blah. The second problem, though... I thought you knew about the power of makeup, Lotor."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the slight cliffhanger lol
> 
> also this will probs be the last chapter in a while bc school is starting again and they beat whatever is needed for writing outta me with a bat there soooo  
> there might be a few updates but christmas break is when truly I'll have what it takes to write again  
> and that's in 7 weeks so see ya fuckers


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> its shoppin timeeeee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow this came like 200000000000000000 years before expected lol

"For fuck's sake, Lotor, stop fidgeting." Reyna said. "I'll ruin your eyeliner and you'll be left looking like a raccoon for the rest of the night. Not that you don't already look like an anglerfish." Lotor just sighed. "Don't even try. I told you to ditch that look a long time ago." She took a step back, admiring her work. Lotor's shapeshifting powers combined with Reyna's makeup skills resulted in him looking like a completely new person. 

 

"It does seem like I won't be recognized like that." Lotor looked at himself in the mirror. He was all done, hair up, face beat, all that.

 

"Does seem? Girl, not even the Green Paladin's top-notch tech would realize it's you." She said, one hand on her hip. "C'mon, my turn. Hope you haven't forgotten what I've taught you."

 

"Would you forgive me if I had?" Lotor asked, motioning Reyna to sit down in the chair.

 

"No."  Lotor snorted at her response. He tied her curly hair up in a bun and shook his head.

 

"What was I even expecting?" He grabbed a brush and some primer. There was a knock on the door. Lotor tensed up. 

 

"I'll open. Might be Keith. Promised I'd yell at him for that stunt he pulled today." Reyna said, moving toward the door. It was Keith.

 

"Oh, here you are." He said. "I was looking for you."

 

"And you thought to come to Lotor's room?" Reyna sniggered. "I didn't think you knew we used to hook up." Lotor groaned. Keith didn't even react. Reyna was very open about her sexual life, and Keith had gotten used to it.

 

"I didn't, and I'm sad I do." He said deadpanned. "What you doing?" He threw a vary glance towards Lotor, trying to figure out who it was.

 

"It's Lotor, Keith, chill out. I was about to get my face beat before you interrupted us." Keith turned towards Lotor, sizing him up. "And I'm talking about the makeup face beat, kid. And I would totally win if the two of us were to fight."

 

"Oh,  _as if._ " Lotor said

 

"You don't even know  _how_ to fight." Keith said a second later, one eyebrow raised.

 

"Oh,  _great._ You two assholes just met and are already teaming up on me." She sighed. "Formal introduction time, I suppose: Lotor, this is my brother Keith, this is my best friend Lotor."

 

"I know." Was all Keith said. "Again, what are you doing?"

 

"I was about to give your sister the face beat of her life," Reyna snorted at that.

 

" _As if."_ She said, throwing Lotor's words back at him. "And then we were going to go shopping. We both need it. And you." She frowned. "I've seen you in, like, three different outfits."

 

" _Not_ going to happen, sis." Keith shook his head, putting his hands in his pockets.

 

"The Coalition's ball is soon, Keith. You have three options; your Blade outfit, which, honestly, will make anybody's ass look amazing, but it's a  _ball._ Then we have your Paladin outfit, but again, it's a ball. And then there's your everyday outfit, but it's a ball."

 

"Who even said I was going?" He said, running his hand through his hair.

 

"It'd be a pity not to see someone like you in a suit." Lotor said casually from his seat on his bed, smiling a  _very_ flirtatious smile.

 

 _Did he just? He just? Flirted? With me?_ Keith threw a very helpless look towards Reyna, who just looked away. Her way of blackmail.

 

" _Fine._ " He sighed. "I'll come with you." He was already regretting this. The poor thing couldn't even tell who seemed more pleased, Lotor or Rey.

 

* * *

 

 

The makeup Reyna (thank god she'd done it, not Lotor) had applied on Keith's face felt weird. What was even weirder, though, was how  _similar_ Reyna and Lotor were. They used similar expressions, reacted to things in a similar manner. Keith supposed they had picked up each other's habits from their time together.

 

Keith stood back while the two were having their fun, letting Reyna drag him away for the occasional shoe fitting. They'd already found a suit for him, cutting off one head of the hydra. But, as always, cut one off and watch two others take its place. Fun.

 

"Keith!" Reyna shouted, urging him to come over. "C'mon, try these. I think they'd go very well with the suit. Now we just need a tie... Or should we ditch the tie?" Before Keith had a chance to reply, Reyna'd already made her decision. "Yeah, no tie seems better. How are they?" She motioned at the shoes.

 

"They feel okay." He stood up and walked around, testing them out.

 

"They'd be amazing with the suit. We'll take them." She snapped her fingers, signalling Keith to take them off.

 

"Where's Lotor?" Keith asked, taking off his shoes.

 

"Already missing the flirt?" She asked, a glint in her eyes. Keith groaned. "He went to pick an outfit for me. And now we're going to pick out one for him." Keith gave her a look. "What? It's tradition, fuck off." 

 

"How do you even know he won't escape?" Now it was Reyna's turn to be giving looks.

 

"How do you know I'm not an assassin sent to kill you?" She asked

 

"Because you can't even hold a dagger right?" 

 

"No, Keith, no. It's because you trust me. And I trust Lotor." She walked towards the cashiers to pay for the shoes. "Also, I have the keys to our ship." Keith laughed.

 

"Sounds solid."

* * *

 

 

They had gotten everything they needed- that included nearly two bags' worth of space junk food- and were back on their ship. Keith, the poor thing, had to sit in the back, since he was the shortest.

 

"So, what'd you get each other?" He said, yawning. 

 

"Oh, we won't know until the day before the ball." Lotor said.

 

"But what if they don't fit?" Keith asked. Reyna had to resist cheering. These two were having a civil conversation, instead of whatever it was they'd been doing before. She was pretty sure it was because Keith was to sleepy to be (passive-)aggressive and Lotor just thought Keith was hot.  _They'll get there._ She assured herself.  _They'll get to know each other, and it'll be bomb._ She kept operating the ship, leaving it to Lotor to answer.

 

"Then we'll need to fit in an emergency shopping trip to get new ones. That time, we'll try them on first though."

 

"We get it right most of the time." Reyna added. Keith just nodded, lost in thought.

 

Even if Keith was tired, he'd noticed how Lotor's manners of speech (and manners in general) had changed compared to when he was talking to the people he'd met before. Right now, well, that was completely different. He spoke with more freedom, cracking jokes from time to time. Keith just guessed Lotor had his faces, just like Reyna did.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow now we're getting somewhere with the keitor


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #reyna'sbitchindevicesrule

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> turns out I can still write lol

Reyna yawned, rummaging through her bag, looking for her toothbrush. They'd -she and Lotor, Keith'd gone to sleep- stayed up late, catching up on gossip and braiding each others' hair. Just like the old times. Lotor had left well into the morning, muttering some shit about having to go to meetings. Reyna had to go to, same with Keith. Kolivan had assigned the two of them to be Lotor's babysitters, and even if he hadn't used the same exact word, it was what he'd meant. 

 

Reyna wasn't going to bother with looking nice today, she was going to wear her Blade outfit and mask all day anyway. Humming softly, she headed for her bathroom, shooting Lotor a text on the way, just letting him know she was going to go over and help him with his outfit. After a quick shower and getting dressed, she was out the door, grabbing the three little earpieces she'd designed with her.

 

Stopping at Keith's door, she found he wasn't there.  _Not a surprise. The fucker's probably training or something._

 

 _Where u @?_ She texted, walking toward Lotor's room.

 

 _Training room. y u askin?_ Came the reply

 

 _Come 2 lotors room when ur done. we need 2 discuss battle plans;)_ She put the phone away, not even needing to look to know Keith was protesting right now. He'd still come anyway. 

 

She walked into Lotor's room without knocking, putting her little inventions down on the table. "I'm hereeeeeee" She yelled, moving towards the closet to see which outfit of the one's they'd bought yesterday would be best. There was a box on the shelf, presumably her ball outfits. Reyna didn't open it-she trusted Lotor had gotten her something nice. The suit she'd gotten Lotor hang in a bag in her own closet, waiting to be worn.

 

"In the shower. Gimme 5 mins." Lotor shouted, wet sounds indicating he'd gotten out.

 

Reyna laid the options out on the bed, then moving over to find matching shoes and accessories. 

 

"Morning. How'd you sleep?" Lotor walked out of the bathroom, wet hair falling on his bare chest.

 

"Morning. Pretty fine, I was tired as shit. You?" 

 

"Wish I could sleep more. What do you have here?" He said, looking over Rey's shoulder.

 

"Today's options. Put a shirt on, I told Keith to come here. The poor boy will have a heart attack if he sees you shirtless." She snickered. "Also, I updated the earpieces and added a third one for Keith." She pointed her thumb at where they lay. 

 

"I like that one." Lotor said, pointing at the middle outfit. Black jeans, a white dress shirt and black shoes. "The earpiece would seem like an accessory with that one." He said, blow-drying his hair.

 

"Thought so. I'm thinking some subtle makeup, eyeliner, maybe." Reyna said, gently putting the other options back. "Nothing too much. Maybe a necklace."

 

"I bought one that might fit yesterday," Lotor said, "check the upper left drawer." 

 

"This one?" Reyna asked, pulling out a silver chain with a deep purple pedant. "I think it'll look good."

 

"Of course it will. I bought it." Lotor said, straightening. Reyna snorted.

 

"Hair loose or in a braid?" She asked, putting the necklace down and motioning Lotor to sit, combing his hair. 

 

"Loose." Lotor answered, just as there was a knock on the door.

 

"It's probably Keith. Come in!" Reyna yelled, and she was right, as always.

 

"Morning. I brought coffee." Keith said, giving Reyna a cup. "Or the Altean castle-ship version of it, at the very least."

 

"God, Keith, you're an angel." Reyna groaned, taking a sip. Keith gave the other cup to Lotor, which was a gesture that didn't go unnoticed by Reyna.

 

"Thank you." Lotor said. "You don't drink?"

 

"Nah. I don't like the taste." Keith answered, putting his hands in his pockets. Trying to seem chill.

 

"One shopping trip, and the two of you are already warming to each other. A miracle, truly." Rey remarked, setting the cup aside and resuming her previous action.

 

"Ha ha." Keith said dryly. "So what did you need me for?"

 

"Strategy, I told you." Reyna said, spinning Lotor's chair around so she could do his makeup. "Check these out. Each one of us gets one, and they're basically communicating devices that cannot be detected by anyone else."

 

"So you can just bitch to us when we're in meetings?" Keith asked, picking one of the earpieces up.

 

"Pretty much." Lotor answered for Reyna, who just shook her head and sighed.

 

"I cannot belive you two. Teaming up on a helpless maiden like me." 

 

"Helpless maiden? Very funny, Reyna." Keith said. "Just because you can't fight doesn't mean you're helpless."

 

"Hey!" She protested. "I can fight! Just not with weapons."

 

"That much is true. Your sister is invincible in a hand-to-hand fight. I haven't dared to see whether she could defeat me." Lotor said.

 

"Thank you!" Reyna said. "At least one of you two is supportive."

 

"You still need to learn how to fight with weapons..." Lotor murmured. Reyna threw her hands up in defeat.

 

"That time you punched me after getting out of the healing pod didn't make it look like you were some master of unarmed combat." Keith teased.

 

"I was on  _drugs,_ Keith. And they weren't the Hulk-out kind." Reyna grumbled, doing Lotor's eyeliner. "Okay, I'm done. Get dressed, and we're good to go." She said, straightening up.

 

"Sounds good." Lotor stood and took his clothes. "Don't run off without me."

 

"We won't, grampa." Reyna said, picking up one of the earpieces and attaching it to her ear. It looked like a helix earring, probably designed to look that way for camouflage purposes.  "You know how to put these on?" She asked Keith. 

 

"No?" Keith answered, hesitant.

 

"Alright, c'mere. Stand still...." The device attached to Keith's upper ear with a click. "And done. You should consider getting real earrings. You'd look pretty cool. I'm sure Lotor would like them, too." She whispered the last part, winking at Keith, whose face had turned bright red.  
  


"What'd you say to the poor boy now?" Lotor asked, walking in. "He sure is the red paladin now." Reyna snickered at that. Lotor attached his own part of their matching set to his ear, and looked really good with it, in Keith's opinion. 

 

"Let's just go." He sighed, putting his mask up, Reyna following suit. Even if the little earring-thingies looked very similar to each other, there was no reason to fear someone would see them.

 

"We can hear whatever you're saying loud and clear with those, so if you wanna say something you only want us to hear, just whisper. And please, try not to scream." Reyna said, and both Keith and Lotor could hear her very well. Her voice didn't even have that metallic ring to it that most microphones usually created. "I need to update them, but I ran out of time. They're pretty pathetic right now."

 

"True." Lotor said. "The originals were  _way_ more advanced."

 

"I know, right?" Reyna whined. "My equipment here  _sucks._ "

 

"C'mon, guys, let's go. We're late already." Keith put in.

 

"We're  _supposed_ to be, Keith. It's called being fashionably late. I cannot believe Reyna hasn't told you that." Ready to admit it or not, Keith liked it when Lotor said his name.  _Fuck._

 

"Oh, trust me, I have." Rey sighed. "He just won't listen."

 

"Who's teaming up on whom now, Reyna?" Keith asked, and started walking down the hallway. Reyna just laughed and the two of them followed Keith.

* * *

 

 

"Why does her hair look like it's been a home for a dynasty of rats?" Reyna muttered into the earpiece, making Lotor smile. It was recess, and he was waiting for the two to show up.

 

"Still not running out of bitch, now are you?" He said back, spotting her in the crowd.

 

"Never. Have you seen Keith? His earpiece broke." She reached him, mask still up.

 

"Are you sure I'm not just ignoring you?" Keith's voice rang through Reyna's and Lotor's earpieces. 

 

"You little shit. Where are you? We're at the drinks table, Lotor's trying to get drunk."

 

"Am not!" Lotor protested. "I'm simply refreshing myself."

 

"By getting drunk?" Keith asked. Realization of what he'd just done caught up with him a moment later, but before he could say anything more, Lotor laughed. Keith had to admit-he was scared of this. How little time it had taken for him to start considering Lotor a friend. How quick he'd warmed up to him. All of that. But even if it scared him, he liked it. Besides how little it took for Lotor to get him to blush- he  _did not_ like that. "I see you, be there in a sec."

 

"Fuck it, I need a drink myself." Reyna grabbed a cup. "The lack of fashion sense in this room has already given me 28 headaches."

 

"If both of you decide to get drunk, I'm out of here and not responsible for whatever crime you're likely to commit. Just saying."


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> midnight dance parties make everything better alright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im writing again whoooooooooooo
> 
> also warning theres talk about nightmares in the beginning

Lotor was trying his best not not to run. He was failing, by the way. He'd have another one of his nightmares, but this time... It was different. They'd never been so  _real_ before. He was running towards Reyna's temporary workshop in the Castle, hoping she'd be there, as she hadn't been in her room.  _Please, please, please, please..._

 

He could her music from a distance. A breath of relief,  _she's there._

 

"Reyna?" He said to the messy room, bursting in.

 

"Yea?" Her voice came from under some big contraption Lotor wasn't in the mood to think about. "What's up?"

 

"I uhh... I had a nightmare." He said, sitting down on  a spare stool that didn't look like it was a weapon disguised as a weapon.

 

Reyna emerged from under her project, and crouched down in front of Lotor, taking his hands in hers. "Hey," she said, her voice soothing, as if she'd done it before. "It alright, okay? You're okay. Do you wanna talk about it?"

 

"Not really." Lotor admitted. "Maybe later. As for now... I don't even know." He sighed.

 

"Would cuddling help?" Rey suggested. "I should go to sleep sometime anyway. We both should."

 

"Oddly enough," Lotor said, "no." 

 

"Well then, if you're not gonna sleep," she stood up, "I might just consider something." She grinned.

 

"Really? You'd teach me?" Lotor's eyes lit up.  _She knows me too well..._

 

"Yeah, alright I'll teach you. It's about time you learn, anyway." She shook her head and chuckled. "You look like a kid who has just been told Christmas came early."

 

"To me, it's just that." He stood up. "We could cuddle later, though. I could use a good night's sleep."

 

"We both would, you ass." She laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, c'mon now, let's not waste any time."

 

* * *

 

 

Reyna was laughing her ass off as Lotor crashed into the wall of the training room once again. "God," she said, breathless, "you're  _hopeless._ "

 

"It's not as easy as it looks." Lotor protested, dusting himself off. 

 

"You're the one who insisted on doing it yourself." She shrugged.

 

"Uh uh, definitely. Seems likely." He walked to the center of the room. "Show me?  _Pleaseeee?"_

 

"Alright, fine. Take 'em off." She put her sneakers back on.

 

Lotor gave her the two boot-looking things. They were made of gold-titanium alloy, and were surprisingly light. 

 

"We gotta show you these Iron Man movies. He has similar tech, these were originally just made to see if I could build a suit like his." She stepped in them, the alloy strapping itself around her feet.

 

"Could you, then?" Lotor asked, sitting down.

 

"Not sure yet, but probably yes. I postponed the project to take up other ones, and then I faked my death. Couldn't exactly drag an entire suit with me." She shrugged. "Oh well. It was gigantic and impractical anyway. These babes, on the other hand..." She gestured down at the sleek-looking red-gold hoverboots. "You could go to a club in these."

 

"If I knew how to use them." Lotor replied. "Think you're ever gonna finish the suit?"

 

"Maybe, we'll see. If I've got the time. It won't probably even look like the original. Now, shut up and learn." She hovered slightly off the ground at first, going slow. She explained what she was doing the entire time, soon enough soaring around the room. "You see? Easy-peasy." She smiled. "C'mon, now you try."

 

Lotor groaned, pushing himself off the floor. "I feel like all of my body is going to hurt tomorrow."

 

"Oh, don't worry, I broke quite the few bones figuring these out." She stepped out of the boots. "Just let yourself loose, don't go to high and listen to what I'm saying. You'll be fine."

 

"Guess I've got no choice?" Lotor asked, stepping into them. Reyna just shook her head in response.

 

"Don't even think about it." She told him. "Doubting yourself-and them-will just make it worse."

 

"Don't suppose you've named them, too?" 

 

"Oh, I did." She said, digging a lollipop out of her hoodie's pocket. "The left one's Iron and the right one is Man."

 

"You're kidding me." 

 

"Nope."

 

"No way you  _actually_ did that."

 

"Hell yeah I did. Now, shut up and..." she stopped for a dramatic pause, "Fly!!" She threw her hands in the air, nearly knocking the candy out of her own hand.

 

And Lotor did. Sure he was slightly wibbly-wobbly at first, and he slammed into the walls more times than once, but he was slowly getting the hang of it. And it wasn't nearly as easy as it looked-even if he wasn't constantly losing control and flying into something, his muscles would've still hurt the next day. Flying was  _intense._

 

At some point, Reyna had put music on, Lotor had came down and they were just dancing like a couple of teenagers. The boots lay forgotten by the wall, and Britney Spears was delivering, as usual. They were dancing their hearts out, twirling around in the training room turned dance floor, putting all of their troubles aside for a precious night.

 

Lotor forgot his nightmares, his father, the war, the Coalition-all of it, just wiped from his mind. He was just letting it all out.

Reyna let go of her fear, of her worries washing away. The Blade, the Coalitions, Keith's and now Lotor's nightmares, her own... All of it, gone. Just for that merry night, when Earth's popstars made them believe they were just normal humans, having fun in the middle of the night in the local high school's gym.

 

Keith watched the two from the doorway, leaning against the cold metal. He had gone looking for Reyna, needing to talk to her, but...

 

"Keith!" She shouted, when she saw him. "Come join us!" Before Keith could protest, Lotor had also deemed it a good idea and they were both calling him over. "C'mon, if you won't join us voluntarily, we'll just drag you over here." Keith was about to decline again, but when he saw how happy his sister looked, how  _sincerely_ happy the both of them looked.

 

"Alright." He joined them. "Just don't make me regret this." 

 

"Never in a million years." Lotor replied, turning the music back up. And Keith, too, let himself go for that precious, precious night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry its a bit shorter than usual, its late and math is first period tomorrow so plz kill me haha


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #bringbackballs2k17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ya bitch is not dead yet lol

Lotor rubbed his eyes and yawned, taking in his surroundings. He was in Reyna's workshop, where he had apparently been sleeping. Reyna was still sleeping next to Lotor on the king-sized mattress she'd gotten from who knows where. Keith was nowhere to be seen. Lotor got up, groggy from the lack of sleep after their late-night dance party, and went to find Rey's coffee machine. Reyna didn't waste a tick occupying the space left vacant by Lotor. "Asshole." He muttered under his breath.

 

Reyna's workshop was a  _mess._ There were blueprints, bits of metal, empty (or half-empty) cups laying all over the place. Lotor moved through the room with caution, he knew better than to go knocking over Reyna's inventions. He'd learnt that the hard way after sending one of Reyna's half-finished contraptions to the floor and it exploded. Right in his face. He wouldn't go near the workshop for months after that.

 

"Morning." Keith said from his seat on one of the tables. Lotor turned sharply, hand reaching for his sword, which wasn't there, before realizing it was just Keith.

 

"Morning, little red." He smiled and Keith groaned loudly. "Keep it down or you'll wake Reyna." Amusement laced his voice.

 

"Too late, asshats. I'm already up." Reyna yawned, walking towards them. She wasn't even looking at where she was going, and through whatever miracle, she didn't hit anything. She just automatically avoided everything. "Coffee, anyone?" She asked.

 

"Please. I feel like I slept for an hour at best." Keith grumbled.

 

"Then you definitely need to sleep better tonight. The ball's tomorrow night and I'm  _not_ letting you go looking like you haven't slept for days." Reyna found three clean cups and set them down on a spare space. "We should go over our makeup and outfits, Lo." 

 

"Definitely. You're going to love what I got you." 

 

"As long as I look like a million bucks, I'm good." She handed Keith and Lotor a cup of coffee, wrapping her hands around her own.

 

Keith hummed appreciatively when he took a sip of his coffee. "Thank god we don't have any meetings today."

 

"True. I think I'd actually die if we had any." Reyna muttered. "Unless someone decides that we need to have a meeting today. In that case, they're the one who's gonna die."

 

* * *

 

 

Reyna gasped, eyes wide in amazement. "Lotor, you're fucking  _spoiling_ me here." The dress seemed pretty ordinary at first sight, a long black dress. Long see-trough sleeves that ended at the base of her middle finger, forming a triangle on the back of her hand,  figure-fitting around her chest and a long flowing skirt. But the back of it, oh damn. The back was bare, except for the rows of jewels starting at her neck with a choker and going all the way down to the small of her back.

 

"And we haven't even gotten to the rest yet." Lotor smiled as Reyna twirled in front of the mirror, admiring the dress -and herself, no doubt.

 

"I knew putting up with you would benefit me in some way." Reyna teased, turning to face Lotor. "But in all honesty, this dress?  _Fucking perfect._ And with what I got you and Keith, we're going to be the best dressed trio in the entire universe tomorrow night."

 

"I don't doubt it, Reyna darling. But we could also just show up in our PJ's and still be better dressed than anyone at the ball." Lotor said, going to his closet to bring out the shoes and accessories. "Here you go." He gave the two boxes to Reyna. 

 

Reyna had to gasp again as she took the shoes out, raising them in front of her face. "What can I say," Lotor had a smile on his face. "I'm determined to spoil you rotten."

 

"As am I, Lo." Rey replied, putting on the earrings, ring already on her finger. "I'll just take a couple of hours to admire myself in this outfit and then it's your turn." She stood up, taller in the heels, and walked over to the mirror, striking a pose.

 

"We're the absolute worst." Lotor laughed.

 

"True." Reyna agreed. "I'm thinking black lipstick and smokey eye. Maybe I'll even glue some fake jewels on my face."

 

"Maybe silver would be better? Black lipstick is too much." Lotor walked over, inspecting Reyna's face, trying to imagine her in both.

 

* * *

 

"Seems like you're not the only one getting spoiled right now." Lotor smoothed the lapels of his suit. It was a black English-cut suit, but not just that. It wasn't visible at a distance, but the suit was made up of blacks and darker blues and purples. It imitated his armor, the pattern being similar to it. "How'd you even make sure it would fit? Suits like these need to be tailored."

 

"Expecting me to give up my secrets just like that, are you?" Reyna had changed back into her casual wear, having handled her ball outfit with ultimate care. "So what do you think?"

 

"I think this suit is  _fucking perfect,_ Reyna." He grinned. "We will most definitely be the best dressed trio at the ball."

 

"Knew it." Reyna smiled. "C'mon let's try on the shoes. I got you a ring and a watch too."

 

"We're also going to be the most spoiled trio at the ball." Lotor sat down on the bed.

 

"You haven't even seen Keith's yet, how can you be sure?" She took the watch out of its box.

 

"Because you chose it?" Lotor replied, and Reyna rolled her eyes.

 

"Asshole." She said. "And, for the record, yes, all three of us are spoiled." Lotor laughed and took the watch from Reyna, strapping it to his wrist. Then the ring, and he was dressed.

 

"I look damn good in this." He commented, standing in front of the mirror. 

 

"Of course you do. I chose it." Reyna patted Lotor's shoulder. "And you, my friend, could look good in a potato sack, so really. No doubt."

 

"I could, probably. But please don't tell me you're hiding a potato sack in there." He gestured at the closet.

 

"Bastard, I'm not." She laughed. "Should we make sure Keith's outfit fits him?"

 

"You know I could never resist seeing your brother in a suit." Lotor smiled that sly smile.

 

"I'll make sure to tell him that." Reyna winked. "Take these off, and meet me in Keith's room when you're ready."

 

"Sure thing."

 

* * *

 

 

"We don't need to do a goddamn dress rehearsal, Rey." Keith protested.

 

"Yes, we do. Lotor wants to see you in a suit." She replied, ushering him towards the bathroom. "Go on now, it's not like you've got something better to do right now."

 

"All the more reason not to do it." Keith replied. He was not going to get dressed up for Lotor.

 

"Get rekt, Lotor." Was all Reyna said. Keith sighed and gave up.

 

"Fine. I'll play dress up. But not for Lotor, alright?" 

 

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, brother." She chirped and gave him his suit and shoes. "Put these on and then it's watch-and-ring time."

 

Keith had just disappeared to the bathroom when Lotor knocked on the door. Reyna opened the door and let him in. "I sent Keith to put on his suit and shoes, then we'll try on the rest and I will need your honest, unbiased opinion on the ring."

 

"Hey, Reyna-" Keith shut up abruptly when he saw Lotor. He was standing in the doorway, shirtless, red in the face. A blink, and he had disappeared once again.

 

"So," Reyna said smugly, seeing as Lotor was also blushing, "you prefer Keith in a suit or shirtless?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> keith's outfit: https://www.pinterest.com/lellumikk/keiths-ball-suit/  
> lo's oufit: https://www.pinterest.com/lellumikk/los-ball-suit/  
> rey's outfit: https://www.pinterest.com/lellumikk/reys-ball-gown/
> 
> also i made a tumblr for my works: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/abeebuzzing  
> so go check that out yay byeeeeeeeeee


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